On Apr 6, 11:21*am, "Robert11" wrote:
Hi,

Frankly, at my age (in the 70's) will settle for anything that is dumb
enough to take it.

Just a really great excuse to get away from the house, and enjoy the
wonderful atmosphere of the Quabbin and Wachusett
areas. *Also like the Deerfield a lot.

Have read, somewhere, that Smelt flies are very effective on the surface
also.
Funny way to fish a true Streamer, but...

Best regards,
Bob
-------------------------

wrote in message

...

On Mon, 6 Apr 2009 08:05:38 -0400, "Robert11"
wrote:

Hi,

Have never fished streamers much, but am thinking of getting a bunch of
flies
imitating Smelts for some fishing on the Quabbin and Wachusett in a few
weeks.

The streamer flies I do have, that supposedly imitate Smelt's, are
non-floaters, and I have always fished them deep.

Think it is worthwhile to try and find some floating Smelt flies, or are
Smelt imitations mostly
fished non-surface, or deep ?

If so, any suggested patterns for "floaters" ?

How would they be fished; just a dead drift, or... ?

Thanks,
Bob

How weird - I was recently reading a book by William Tapply - a fishing
book,
not one of his novels - also, Tapply is the son of Tap Tapply, of "Tap's
Tips"
fame - and he was talking about that _area_. *I _think_ he wrote a book
for
Orvis??? that would cover general fishing in that area, his "home water"
for
quite a while. *If you're interested in it, do a Google on him, and I'll
bet
you'll find it.

As to the underlying question, I have no experience fishing smelt
imitations on
the Quabbin and Wachusett, but why would one want a "floating streamer?"
Streamers are supposed to, um, well, "stream." *If you want a floating
fly, what
about a popper or any number of the on-or-near-the surface "dense hair"
flies
like bees, mice, etc.

You don't indicate your quarry - what is it, and when?

HTH,
R

Bob,

Are you speaking of trolling from a boat? If so, you would want to
experiment with depths and trolling speeds. Salmon and, to an extent,
lake trout will be found near the surface in the first week or two of
the season. After that they will be found deeper. Maybe someone with
more recent experience can comment on this. BTW, there is no such
thing as a "floating" streamer...just streamers. The depth is
determined by how you fish them.

AFAIK, boats aren't allowed at Wachusset, all fishing is done from
shore. I've never fished it, but I would think that the fly fishing
would be better in rivers in the immediate area. I have fished Quabbin
(although not recently), and I would think fly fishing from shore
there would be futile, although trolling streamers in the early season
can be quite productive.